


Things You Said When We First Met

by littlemisfit5290



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Banter, Dialogue Heavy, Episode: s01e01 Pilot, F/M, Fluff, Missing Scene, Partnership, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-03-06
Packaged: 2018-09-28 17:18:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10141232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlemisfit5290/pseuds/littlemisfit5290
Summary: She shakes his hand. She watches his slide show. She smiles when he tells her they’re leaving for Oregon at 8AM. She lets him call her Scully.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Missing scene drabble from the Pilot, in honor of MSR's 25th work-aversary.

_March 6th, 1992_

She shakes his hand. She watches his slide show. She smiles when he tells her they’re leaving for Oregon at 8AM. She lets him call her Scully.

When she exits the basement for her car she ponders going home. She can call Ethan to bring over Chinese food, they can discuss her new partner over beers while he watches her pack her suitcase. Instead she drives to the bar just down the street. Asks for a gin and tonic and for the small bowl of peanuts on the bar to be refreshed.

A half hour later, half watching the news broadcast on in the corner she mulls ordering a second drink. She does ask for more peanuts and earns a snort from the man who just walked in. She decides she best ignore it.

“I hope you’re saving some of those for winter. Gonna be a cold one this year.”

Picking a peanut out of the bowl Scully rolls it between her fingertips, waits for the bartender to turn her back so she can turn and lob the nut at the stranger’s head. Before she can move though it’s plucked from her fingers.

“Easy there, Rocky. I meant what I said about saving them.”

Mulder smirks. Sitting on the stool beside her he pops the peanut in his mouth. Scully turns, stares gape mouthed at him while he flags down the bartender.

“Can I get a Corona, please?” 

“Sure thing. More peanuts?”

“Thanks, but I think my newly assigned partner here has enough for us to share,” he grins, taking another handful. Feeling Scully’s glare he fights the urge to grin more.

“If I’d known you were the type to grab drinks after work I’d have bought the first round.“

“You’re the profiler here, Agent Mulder. You couldn’t figure it out?”  
  


“I figured you’d hear bright and early departure time and run straight home to pack a bag.”

“Well I had to come here and stock up for winter,” Scully retorts, taking some bills out of her wallet and tucking them under her glass. “Luckily now I’m all set to go. Good night, Mulder.”

“Wait, Scully. Wait, just hang on.”

“Scully? Don’t you mean Rocky?“ she spits, standing up as Mulder lowers his eyes, shrugs.

"Well if that makes me the big dumb moose…”

On the verge of smiling in spite of herself, Scully chews her lip. Tries not to fixate on his pouty ones. 

“I apologize. We might need to work up to light teasing and friendly banter.”

“Yeah, we might,” she says, sitting back down and tucking the money back in her purse.

“I’m not used to having anyone assigned to work with me. It’s been pretty quiet down in the basement since the start of my ‘project’.”

Nodding, Scully signals the bartender for another drink, grabs another handful of peanuts.

“Maybe you should show off that slide show of yours upstairs. You’ll have to beat off potential partners with a stick.”

“If that was a dig at my presentation skills, I’ll have you know-“

“You’ll have me know what?” Scully asks, arching a brow.

Lightly Mulder laughs, shakes his head at her as the bartender brings them their drinks. 

“I don’t think there’s much else an M.D who rewrote Einstein  _needs_  to know. Cheers,” he says, lifting his longneck.

“Cheers.”

Clinking her drink with his Scully takes a sip, sets it down on the bar.

“You know you’re wrong, Mulder. I wouldn’t have accepted this assignment if I didn’t want to be challenged. If I didn’t want to know more.”

“Know more about  _me_  I presume,” Mulder says flatly, taking a long swig of his beer. 

“You’d have to be awfully self centered to presume that.”

“Even if I am, can you honestly say your own curiosities didn’t play a part in your decision?“

“My curiosities about what? Why you’re nicknamed Spooky?” Scully scoffs.

“Hey, it’s a good place to start.”

“Mulder, believe it or not, I didn’t agree to partner up with you so I could bring gossip from the basement back upstairs to the water cooler. I’m sure whatever I wind up learning about you, whatever you’re willing to tell me will be information you’ve already disclosed to the Bureau and our supervisors and will be strictly common knowledge. You don’t seem anywhere near foolish or stupid enough to confide your innermost thoughts and feelings in a woman you just met, and for the record, I’m not the type to broadcast whatever you do decide to confide in me. To our colleagues or even to Blevins. I didn’t take him up on his offer so I could start playing Mata Hari.”

“That’s too bad. You’d be terrific in that role,” he quips, earning a look.

“All I intend on including in my reports are the facts, Mulder. My own scientific analysis of your findings. Frankly, I don’t see that as a problem.”

“Them sending you to debunk my work isn’t a problem?”

“Even if that is what they’re sending me in to do, what’s wrong with someone else learning more about your work? About the X-Files? I’m another set of eyes and will be able to view your findings through a critical, scientific lens. I’ll be objective, I’ll share my thoughts and opinions with you, even discoveries I may wind up making on my own.”

“Well, I appreciate your enthusiasm if nothing else.”

“You  _did_  say it was nice to be so highly regarded. Of course whether that was just your sarcastic way of telling me to-“

“You’ll come to know when I’m being sarcastic, Scully.”

“Should I take that to mean that when we fly to Oregon tomorrow you’re not going to ditch me at the airport?”

“Would Bullwinkle ditch Rocky?” Mulder asks as she rolls her eyes, but still searches for a clearcut answer in his.

“I don’t plan on ditching you, Scully,” he assures, taking a sip of his beer. “Not without a damn good reason anyway. Besides, the bossmen upstairs would fire me on the spot if I turned one of their top new recruits against the idea of partnership for the rest of her career.“

“What’s to say I don’t spend the rest of my career partnered with you in the basement?”

“Shh. That’s your second drink talking,” Mulder says, pointing to her half empty glass.

“I suggest that you take my advice and ignore it.”

“Mulder…”

“I’m serious, Scully. Look, we’ll go to Oregon, I’ll do some digging and collect some findings, you’ll put your brain to work, come up with some brilliant, rational, scientific explanation of what we witness, type up your report for Blevins’ desk and you’ll have done your duty. A few more cases like that and you’ll earn your stripes. Be able to move onto bigger and better things.”

“You seem pretty confident.”

“Well like you said, I  _am_  the profiler.”

“It doesn’t matter how well you profile, Mulder. We just met. There’s no way of your knowing what my intentions will be after this assignment. I mean, Jesus, I don’t even know what they are,” Scully sighs, finishing off her drink as Mulder turns his body to face her. Eyeing him she follows his lead, swivels her stool in his direction. 

“You joined up at the Bureau so you could distinguish yourself. And you’re going to do that. But not in the way you’re after if you hitch your wagon permanently to the X-Files. I’ll get you through this assignment, Scully, and however many more they stick you on with me. But even only having known you for a few hours, you’re better than the most unwanted when it comes to the F.B.I.”

“Actually, I don’t think I am,” Scully says with a shrug. Frowning, Mulder finishes off his beer but his focus stays on her.

“My family, my father especially, were far from thrilled that I chose the F.B.I over a career in medicine. Of anything they saw it as the worst act of rebellion I’ve committed yet,” she says softly, turning back to the bar and her drink. Absently stirs the ice around in the remnants of it with the tiny straw.

“But, you were right when I said I wanted to distinguish myself. I think I’ll be able to do that, Mulder, even if it is through the X-Files. I want to believe that, at least.”

After a beat Scully looks up at Mulder warily, feels a sense of relief at the small nod he gives her, the knowing smile on his face.

“I want to believe it too, Scully.”

Taking out his wallet Mulder puts down enough cash to cover both their tabs. Realizing it, Scully promptly shakes her head, moves to grab her purse.

“Mulder, no. I’ve got-”

“Forget it. On the days I put you through a slideshow the drinks are on me.”

“Is that a basement rule?”

“It is now. After you,” Mulder says, standing as she follows suit. He holds the bar door open for her, proceeds to follow her in the direction of her car.

“You’re good to drive?”

“Yeah. I’ll be fine,” Scully says. “Thanks again for the drinks.”

“Thanks for the fresh nuts,” Mulder says as she spots her car in the lot. Before going for her keys though Scully reaches into her pocket, moves to sprinkle some of the peanuts she’d smuggled out in Mulder’s palm before plucking one out of the pile for herself. 

After taking a step forward she turns back on her heel to face him and pops the stray peanut in her mouth. Getting him laughing.

“You actually went and squirreled..” Mulder says, his voice trailing off as she nods, smiles deviously.

“For what it’s worth I prefer sunflower seeds,” he says.

“Unshelled?” Scully asks, getting a nod.

“How’d you guess?” Mulder grins. “Seriously, I live on the things, Scully. I buy up bags in bulk.”

“You know an addiction to sunflower seeds is common in people needing to satisfy an oral fixation.”

“What was that about oral?” he teases as she rolls her eyes and turns back on her heel, car keys in hand.

“I’ll see you in the morning, Mulder.”

“Bright and early, G-Woman!” he calls after her as she nods, unlocks her car with a smile.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

 

 


End file.
